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All- Over almost 8 years I have enjoyed sharing this with you and it has been fun. I’ve reached a lot of people and, based on various emails and comments to the blog touched a lot of people in a … Continue reading →

Michael Gallagher

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Posts tagged ‘soup’

It’s a great time to indulge in some soup for the soul! Thanks for putting this event on!

It all started when Lauren and I were at Henry’s market, picking up some groceries for the meals we had decided on for the week. Everything was going as planned, and we found exactly what we needed, but we were in for a real treat that day. Yams, Garnet Yams, were on sale, and boy were they ginormous! Lauren and I look at them, wide-eyed, and start laughing. Although we didn’t have a recipe for Yam the Gigantor yet, we couldn’t pass up purchasing such an odd looking growth. Now that I think about it, I really should have taken a separate photo of Yam the Gigantor, whoopsies.

An extra squeeze of lime is an excellent option

Since we were in a soupy kind of mood and we found a copious amount of black bean and sweet potato recipes, we ran in that direction. Here was the dilemma: we had a yam not a sweet potato. Naturally, I got curious and set off on an expedition to clear up the confusion, which meant that I went straight to the source: Wikipedia (don’t judge). After learning about the difference between the two similar-looking vegetables, I decided that Yam the Gigantor would be an even better addition to the black bean and chipotle chili soup. A little curiosity pays off…sometimes. Here’s the scoop:

INGREDIENTS

Yam the Gigantor is on the
right, but please note that the biggest part of his bod
wouldn’t fit in the frame.

DIRECTIONS :

You can either throw all ingredients into the CrockPot for a few hours on High, or you can cook in a pot on the stove. We did a little of each to get the best of both worlds. In medium skillet, heat some olive oil, add onion and cook for a few minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, jalapeños, and chipotles with adobo and cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Throw onion/chili mixture into the Crockpot and turn on high. Add yams, black beans, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and stir together. Then, cover with vegetable broth and nestle the bay leaves into the middle. Let cook on high for around 2 hours, or until yams are tender, stirring occasionally to make sure they are cooking evenly.

Whip out your immersion blender (if you don’t have one, well, get one! We just did and it is a kitchen essential!) and blend until desired texture is achieved. We left it a little bit on the chunky side.

Add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in scallions and cilantro. Dish up into bowls and serve with the option of more hot sauce! (Since we had company over for dinner there weren’t as many leftovers as we had hoped, so I guess this means we will be making this dish again soon!Little Yellow Note: We stirred in some yogurt to the small amount of leftovers and whad’ya know, it doubled as bean dip!

Southern California—San Diego especially—is known for its prime weather conditions filled with warm sunshine and calm blue skies. I guess its also known for its unpredictability in the “winter” months.

Last weekend it was over 80 degrees, mimicking that of a beachy summer day, but we are not so lucky this weekend, as the forecast predicts a dreary cloud cover and showers.

Pot of our soup to warm us right up!

All that to say, its definite SOUP weather! Since switching on the heater is out of our budget, we cozy up in our toasty kitchen with a hearty pot of Mushroom Barley Soup simmering on the stove.

Shopping list:

Carrots

Celery

Zucchini

Onion

Crimini Mushrooms

Garlic

Dried Marjoram

Chicken Broth

Water

Fresh Thyme

Bay Leaves

S & P to taste!

Ham/Canadian Bacon

White Wine

Barley

Preparation is as follows:

Pre-cook barley: boil 4 cups of water, add 1 cup barley. Simmer on med-low for 30 or until soft. It will cook an extra 10 minutes in the soup, so keep it al dente!